Food coloring in water harmful?

[Carlyle]

I have a couple of these 1 gal containers. I am very happy with them except they are not 'transparent', but 'translucent white'.

http://www.farmandfleet.com/products/556440-plastic_waterer_poultry_fountain_complete.html

The water level is hard to see with clear water. A few drops of food coloring really helps. Maybe blue would be better than red?

 

[Tala]

Ya know, that stuff we put in hummingbird feeders is pretty vividly red. I wonder if that stuff is actually causing them more harm than good????????

 

[Californichicken]

Quote:
Can hummingbirds get any more hyper?

If you really want to dye their water, you can boil down what's left of your beets when you cook them, or just use the water that you steamed the beets in as coloring. If you buy organic food coloring, it's usually just really concentrated beet juice. Not much flavor if any and it's a nice red color.

 

[Carlyle]

OK - I have NEWS - - -

First, a disclaimer - I'm a scientist and will readily admit this is not a scientifically valid study or conclusion - but it SURE is interesting anecdotal data.

I used just several drops of grocery store red or blue food coloring per gallon of water. My 4 chickens who had been laying 3-4 eggs every day immediately dropped to 2-3 eggs (even 1 once) and stayed that way for the duration of multiple weeks while I was doing this.

I then got some freeze dried beet powder. I put just a pinch of this in each gallon of water. I get same color as for 3-4 drops of red food color. Egg production immediately went back up.

There are many possible explanations other than that food coloring is 'poisonous'. Perhaps they did not like the taste? Perhaps they love beets? And maybe just simply drink more water? But in any case, the beet powder is cheap and known to be healthy. So why give them suspicious chemical food colors???

So - that is my contribution to Old Husband's Tales.

 

[baustin]

Quote:
Can hummingbirds get any more hyper?

If you really want to dye their water, you can boil down what's left of your beets when you cook them, or just use the water that you steamed the beets in as coloring. If you buy organic food coloring, it's usually just really concentrated beet juice. Not much flavor if any and it's a nice red color.

It's not necessary to dye your sugar water. Experts have told me that the red stuff you buy in the stores can harm the birds. Mine, as many as adozen or more) come to my feeders with clear food and the feeder has red on it.

 

[NYREDS]

Personally I don't think there's any good reason to put food colouring in chickens' water.. At the same time there's no particular reason not to. If you're curious do a google search for some of the associated research. It appears that SOME red dyes MAY affect the behavior of a small percentage of children. To assume from that a similar effect on chickens is less than scientific.

 

[babyblue]

I’m big into decorating cakes and have to specifically buy the "no taste red" coloring. otherwise there is a slight off taste to the icing if I want to make something very red....like an Elmo cake. Chickens eat dirt and bugs, but perhaps the red has a taste they don’t like and go off the water?

 

[RockwaterFarm]

the food coloring will actually make the eggs tinted that color. You can make easter eggs without even having to paint them!